Dale Hurst
Dale Hurst
Dale Hurst is an English author, editor and presenter from Poole, Dorset. A writer heavily influenced by names including but not limited to Dickens, Austen, Gaskell, Christie and Hugo, plus elements of Tolstoy, Peake and even Shakespeare, he prefers stories with historical settings. He is a lover of mystery, crime, domestic drama and black comedy, and tries to implement elements of these genres into all his works – as you may notice if you read his first novel The Berylford Scandals: Lust & Liberty.
Aside from writing, Dale’s interests lie in film, television, music (he sings and plays the piano), art, law and travel, plus certain sports.
Read on for more detail about Dale’s career as an author, journalist and presenter.
The Berylford Scandals: Lust & Liberty (2018)
Lust & Liberty is a romantic mystery novel on an epic scale, detailing the town of Berylford’s forbidden liaisons, blackmail, bribery and deception, amid a society obsessed with social and financial status…
Lady Oliviera Vyrrington is no stranger to sorrow, having buried three children, plus a declining marriage to the silent and secretive Lord Wilson. In her grief, she has taken on a lover in handsome footman Jesse Blameford, all the while watched and threatened by her dogged butler George Whitlocke. As if that wasn’t enough, the sudden disappearance of a servant boy throws her household into disarray, and she is forced to protect her lover and, by extension, their secret liaison. On the same night, her friends Elspeth Urmstone and Judith-Ann Haffisidge are flung into a problem of their own with nothing but a cryptic yet disturbing message from an unknown sender. An enemy they were not aware of.
The Berylford Scandals: Sin & Secrecy (2020)
This is the sequel to Lust & Liberty, but also the novel that Dale wrote first. It follows Lady Vyrrington’s mysterious and villainous cousin Abel Stirkwhistle as he asserts his own order across Berylford, and never mind the threats of his sister Miss Rebecca. Meanwhile, four of their pupils at the schoolhouse attempt to take extreme measures to make their days a little less frightful, but instead they find a murder already committed. Meanwhile, Lady Vyrrington and Abel both take an interest in a local ragged boy, albeit for starkly different reasons. For the Countess, he rekindles a maternal affection thought long extinct; for Abel, he bears a potential connection to a scandal that could set his family’s reputation ablaze forever. Secrets and mysteries are rife around the town as ever, and there is no shortage of betrayal, blackmail and brigandry along the way. In short, a tale of warring siblings, murder in the night, children who know too much, miscarriages of justice, and families longing to be reunited.
The Dale Hurst Writing Show
Created in 2021, The Dale Hurst Writing Show is a podcast in which Dale Hurst discusses and explores various issues surrounding writing, publishing, and storytelling with special guests from within the business. Across the fortnightly seasons, he talks to a wide range of creatives including poets, playwrights, filmmakers, screenwriters and, of course, authors at various stages of their careers. He also interviews them about themselves as storytellers, what inspires their styles and characters, and who inspires them from the worlds of writing.
As of 2024, the podcast has produced more than 40 episodes. A fourth season is currently ongoing.